BALTIMORE, Md. — Thousands of students are wearing red, white and blue to help form a Star-Spangled Banner at Maryland’s Fort McHenry.

More than 7,000 students are expected to participate in forming the flag Tuesday at the place where the National Anthem’s story began during the War of 1812.

It was the sight of the flag waving over the fort after the Battle of Baltimore in 1814 that inspired the writing of the national anthem. The fort’s flag, the original star-spangled banner, is now on display at the Smithsonian in Washington.